Tough beyond all odds.

I recently read the story of Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez who in 1968 did what most people would not be able to do. In a volunteer mission to rescue fellow soldiers, he repeated exposed himself to enemy fire and hand to hand combat suffering 37 separate bayonet, bullet, and shrapnel wounds over a 6 hour battle and saved the lives of 8 men. Thought dead, he was finally pulled onto a helicopter and was in a body bag, being zipped up when he had just enough energy to spit in the face of the medic. When receiving the Medal of Valor, President Reagan commented that they should make a movie about his experiences, but doubted that anyone would actually believe it really happened.

What are some other real life tough beyond all odds stories that you are aware of?

"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. Time makes more converts than reason." - Thomas Paine Common Sense.

By the time all was said and done, the list of Foley's injuries was long and included but was not limited to: one and a half missing teeth, 14 stitches below his lip, a concussion, a dislocated jaw, a bruised kidney and a dislocated shoulder.

Last edited by btrage; 26 Sep 2012 at 4:13 PM.

"I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany"

“As soon as public service ceases to be the chief business of the citizens, and they would rather serve with their money than with their persons, the State is not far from its fall”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

I'm reading the book Unbroken about Louis Zamperini, an American AF serviceman in WWII who fought in the South Pacific (and who was also an olympic runner in Berlin, 1936). Its unbelievable what this guy went through – and lived. And I’m only halfway through the book. He has been shot down in a bomber, drifted for 47 days in a life raft, was attacked by sharks, strafed by the Japanese, then captured. At this point in the book, he has been in two separate camps, neither of which were official POW locations (so the Red Cross did not know about them and they were not subject to any international laws concerning treatment of war prisoners). Tortured, starved and beaten by Japanese captors, he has now been transferred to one of the worst camps run by a real live psychopath. I’m already blown away by this story and a friend just informed me that the real story is just beginning….

I'm reading the book Unbroken about Louis Zamperini, an American AF serviceman in WWII who fought in the South Pacific (and who was also an olympic runner in Berlin, 1936). Its unbelievable what this guy went through – and lived. And I’m only halfway through the book. He has been shot down in a bomber, drifted for 47 days in a life raft, was attacked by sharks, strafed by the Japanese, then captured. At this point in the book, he has been in two separate camps, neither of which were official POW locations (so the Red Cross did not know about them and they were not subject to any international laws concerning treatment of war prisoners). Tortured, starved and beaten by Japanese captors, he has now been transferred to one of the worst camps run by a real live psychopath. I’m already blown away by this story and a friend just informed me that the real story is just beginning….

The drifting at sea reminds me of another story. Steven Callahan drifted at sea in a raft called The Rubber Ducky III for 76 Days in the Atlantic Ocean early 1982. Everything that could go wrong did, but he was smart enough to overcome it.

"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. Time makes more converts than reason." - Thomas Paine Common Sense.

Audie Murphy, that scrawny Texas kid the Marines and the Navy did not want, went on to be our nation's most decorated soldier in WWII. Murphy was awarded 33 U.S. decorations and medals, five medals from France, and one from Belgium. He earned the Silver Star twice in three days, two Bronze Star Medals, three Purple Hearts, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Medal of Honor. He started out as a private and got field promotions time after time, until he was a second lieutentant. Later he was promoted to First Lieutenant and after the war he reached the rank of major in the Texas National Guard.

Audie Murphy was a badass' badass.

The official U.S. Army citation for Murphy's Medal of Honor reads:

"Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company B 15th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division.
Place and date: Near Holtzwihr France, January 26, 1945.
Entered service at: Dallas, Texas. Birth: Hunt County, near Kingston, Texas, G.O. No. 65, August 9, 1944.
Citation: Second Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by six tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to a prepared position in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, one of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire, which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from three sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad that was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued his single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way back to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack, which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. 2d Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective."

While calling in the artillery strike, he was asked by the man on the other end how close were the Germans. Murphy reportedly said, "Hold on a minute, and I'll put one of the sons-of-a-bitch on."

Earlier in the war, at Anzio, Murphy volunteered repeatedly to cross enemy lines at night to gather intelligence on the Germans. He brought back maps, classified papers and such. Those Germans did not give up those materials willingly, though I am sure they all received a soldier's burial.

Murphy wrote a book about his exploits - To Hell and Back . He starred as himself in the movie adaptation of the book. I think he may be the only bona fide hero who played himself in a movie about his exploits. After the war he had a career as an actor, primarily in B Westerns, but also in A list movies, like "The Unforgiven", "Night Passages" and "The Quiet American." He died in 1971 in a plane crash.

"I am very good at reading women, but I get into trouble for using the Braille method."